In October, Acer Inc, of Taipei, Taiwan appointed Kazakstan’s largest computer assembly company, ALSI, as a distributor with rights to the Kazakhstani and Kirgiziyain markets. Deputy general manger at ALSI Murat Itbaev says negotiations with Acer began at the beginning of June and ALSI has been selling a few units a month since then. With the agreement in place, ALSI has now placed an order for a large first shipment of 700 computers, which will be delivered to Kazakhstan by train from Finland. ALSI says the credit terms are 100% pre-payment. The deal signals ALSI’s virtual abandonment of Compaq Computer Corp, which the company describes as slow in comparison with Acer’s dynamism. Over time ALSI says it will be receiving Acer computers from three supply points: Finland, Dubai and Taiwan. The company has close relations with the Singapore branch of Acer (ALSI is a joint venture with the Singapore-based company). ALSI president Isakhan Alimzhanov says that although Acer’s gains are often at the expense of local brands, ALSI is in a win-win position. Of course, some ALSI computer customers will be lost to Acer but it’s much better for ALSI to have a way to control this process than for it to watch from the outside, he asserts.
